George Barris was responsible for some of TV's most iconic classic cars. The designer's resume includes everything from Knight Rider's K.I.T.T and Alvin Acorn's Safety Car from Alvin and the Chipmunks. All his projects come from his workshop now called Barris Kustom. The designer meets the engineer doesn't stop there. His company offers to customize hot rods and almost anything that moves.
His obsession began at an early age when he spent time at a body shop learning their ways at the same time as racing hot rods. After the Second World War, Barris and his brother established their first shop in Los Angeles. His brother, Sam, would focus primarily on metalwork and George would focus on the designs. When Fox Productions began the search for someone to design their Batmobile, Barris was the obvious candidate. The man's work created a legacy that successive generations of Batmobiles have continued to iterate on. Some of these vehicles are darker and less comic. But at the heart of all these cars is Barris' ambition for a recognizable and customized car.
The iconic Batmobile costs less than you think.
What Car Was The First Batmobile?
The first Batmobile appears on screen with Adam West during the 1960s. Unlike more recent Batmobiles like Nolan's Tumbler, this was not an entirely custom build. Taking the Lincoln Futura Barris built the iconic car. A concept car for Lincoln, the Futura never made it into production, but it showcased what the brand was capable of. A futuristic aesthetic penned by Ghia in Turin with a 6.0 Liter V8 nestled under the bonnet, it stole the limelight in 1955.
Only one Futura left Lincoln's production line. Finished in a pearlescent white paint, the car showed Ford's ambition in a space-age. The car doesn't have a conventional cabin, but instead a dome made of glass. This design continued a trend that Mercury began the year prior. Originally costing the Ford Motor Company $250,000 it states the manufacturer's intent. John Najjar and Bill Schmidt exaggerated every feature of the car. Most notably with a concave front grille and wild tail fins that stand out amongst the concept's contemporaries. The designers had no idea at the time that such a peculiar design was the perfect casting for the Batmobile.
With space for two, the Futura showed the future of the personal luxury car market. Similar in length to the Ford Galaxie it shared underpinnings with the Lincoln Continental. Batman isn't necessarily in need of a luxury car. Jay Leno drove the Tumbler from Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and that car is far from luxurious. What the superhero does need though are two seats. Unlike successive vehicles, Batman doesn't drive alone. In the passenger seat, Burt Ward sat proudly playing Robin.
How Was The Batmobile Different To The Futura?
Once Barris took hold of the vehicle, he began creating “a fantasy”. The caped crusader's first car was born. At first, his team tried grey primer, but it didn't look right. Covering the vehicle in a layer of black gloss and with bright red highlights every futuristic line on the modified Futura stood out. Barris' team installed all the Batmobile's tools, like a computer and rockets. These all make Barris' other vehicle K.I.T.T look rather under-equipped. With a modest budget, the team looked to save money where they could. A paint can found use as the rear-mounted jet. The Batchutes are simply regular parachutes used by drag cars to slow down.
This Batmobile matched the less than serious tone of Adam West's Batman Film and Television show. With the comic and the cartoon trying to emulate the show's success, they iterated on the Futura's design, retaining the bubble-like cockpit. This style of design led to the gritty and dark era of Batman, which on the screen began with Micheal Keaton. To match this new tone, a darker design saw light. As a result, the optimistic Futura-based Batmobile became a thing of the past.
How Much Did The Batmobile Cost To Make?
When approached with his brief for the Batmobile, Barris had 15 days and $15,000. In today's money, that's roughly $140,000. At first, this sounds like a large amount, after all, that could buy plenty of luxury cars like a Porsche 911. However, the most recent Batmobile, The Tumbler cost a “small mortgage”, and potentially more than $1 Million. Barris' relatively modest budget went on accessorizing the car. These allow Batman to escape from whatever situation he'd gotten into that week.
Barris proudly claims that he bought the Lincoln Futura concept car for $1. With such a cheap base to build from, they saved plenty of money. However, this presented another problem later down the line. With only one car the producers didn't have a stunt car, to begin with, meaning the original hero's car got damaged frequently. Eventually, five examples made their way to the set. Two more used the Ford Galaxie chassis with a fiberglass body that replicated the Batmobile's look. These two cars toured publicity events and turned the car into an icon of the same size as Batman.